On The Sidelines
by theonewhosawitall
Summary: While Adrien and Marinette are running around Paris unsupervised (A Ticket For Adventure) Alya and Nino are having a peaceful night in at Nino's, gossiping about their dumb friends, burning their food, and making stupid puns about bad movies they're watching. Sometimes the sidelines are just as fun as the spotlight.
1. Chapter 1

"Hey, I'm sorry you don't get to see the concert too," Marinette said.

Alya glanced down from the bed ladder. She was standing there, half way up the ladder, reaching for a portrait of Adrien wearing a tailored waist coat and a suit shirt with rolled up sleeves. Alya reached a little further, holding tight to the ladder bar as she did. The poster tore at the corners, but came off intact. Given that some of them had been glued up, Alya counted that as a win.

"What'd you mean? I'm going to watch it at home," she said as she climbed back down the ladder.

Marinette frowned. "At home?"

"Yeah. Someone's bound to post it online, I'll watch it then," she said.

Marinette glanced at Tikki. "But it's not the same..."

Alya laid the last armful of posters in the bottom drawer of Marinette's desk and dusted her hands off as she stood back up.

"If this all goes well you can buy me a ticket for his next concert," Alya smirked.

Marinette chuckled. She really did owe Alya so much. A concert ticket was nothing. "Deal."

"Besides, me and Nino are hanging out in his house tonight, after I'm done babysitting," Alya continued.

"Why?"

"Well his parents are out for the weekend, so he invited me over. we're supposed to be studying but to be honest we're more likely to watch a bad movie and laugh about it together."

Alya didn't mention how much the prospect of them just sitting on his sofa making bad jokes made her tingle inside. Or that Nino had convinced her to spend the night already by saying being alone in a dark and empty house made him scared and he needed a big bad wolf to scare the ghouls away. She knew he was teasing her, but the idea that she was the one he'd call when he was in trouble made her grin.

"Do you want to go over the plan again?" Alya asked.

"We've done it forty times Alya!" Marinette laughed.

"Another forty and you'll might remember it," Alya grinned.

Marinette grinned back. It was impossible to pretend that Alya didn't know what she was talking about. Everyone who saw Marinette and Adrien together knew she had a problem talking to him. The problem being that she couldn't. She couldn't string two sentences together without messing it up when she was with him.

"One last time, just to be sure," Tikki ushered.

Marinette nodded. One more time couldn't hurt. "Alright, one more time."

Alya cleared her throat expertly. "Right, when Adrien arrives, you'll text me. Then I'll wait five minutes before phoning you to make sure you know Nino is sick and I have to look after him."

"I suggest that we call the whole thing off, and - oh but what if he says yes?!" Marinette felt sick with nerve at the idea.

Alya laid a hand around Marinette's shoulders, and pulled her in to a supportive half hug. "Don't worry, he's been excited about this all week. He won't say no."

Marinette tried to calm her nerve but there was so much riding on this that she couldn't do it. Marinette fiddled with the shirt laid on the sofa, anxiously.

"Are you sure this will work?" She asked.

Alya shrugged. "If it doesn't then I'm going to take him to an optician because he's clearly blind."

Marinette gave a sound somewhere between a laugh and a groan, "Alya!"

"What? Imagine him with glasses," Alya grinned.

Marinette wrinkled her nose as she imagined it. That messy hair, blurry tired eyes, glasses dangling off his nose, flapping the hair out of the way of his glasses. Chewing the end of the handle as he rubbed his eyes and yawned. The way the sun would glint off of them when he pulled his head back and laughed. The way they would magazine his shining green eyes, and their ability to see into her soul. the little anxious look he'd have when he lost them, and the surprised laugh of embarrassment when someone pointed out they were on his head. A smile curled over Marinette. He looked even smarter with those glasses on. So handsome. Alya chuckled.

"He can join Nino and me in the eyesight club. He can settle arguments about who's the greatest, me or Nino," she smiled.

"He'll choose Nino," Marinette stated.

Alya frowned. She wasn't wrong. Bros first and all that. "then aren't I glad he doesn't have glasses?"

Marinette gave a weak chuckle and agreed. Her mind was elsewhere. Namely on tonight. She felt sick. Queasy. Her stomach ached, and her mouth was filling with water like she was getting ready to throw up. Alya noticed that she was swaying. She guessed the poor girl's legs had gone weak with nerve.

"Mari don't worry. If this doesn't work, then we know it's time to get seriously blatant. Or to ask Ivan for advice," Alya suggested.

Ivan and Mylene had the best relationship of anyone their age. Everyone knew it. even if it had taken an akuma – the very first akuma – to bring them together. Marinette chose not to mention that Ivan had just been following her advice. Or that ladybug had given him the final push he needed to close that gap. They didn't have the ability to hope she or ladybug would help here. Although Ivan had actually managed to tell her how he felt, and managed to get her to agree, and now they were dating. Alya put that down to Mylene being smart enough to know she loved him too. If Adrien was too stupid to see that, as he seemed to be at the moment, this could all go pear shaped fast.

"Adrien's not stupid Alya, if he can't see what I feel it's because he doesn't feel it himself..." Marinette said, miserably.

"If he doesn't then he is stupid. There's only one person in the whole of Paris better than you, and that's Ladybug," Alya said, firmly.

Marinette perked up a little as Tikki giggled in the corner. Tikki agreed wholeheartedly with that statement.

"So, are you ready for one last try?" Alya asked.

Marinette took a deep breath. It didn't really help anything. She gulped and nodded. Alya smirked. They had gone through this so much that they could re-enact it without thinking, and yet Alya knew somehow, some way, it would get messed up. Maybe it wouldn't be her fault, maybe Adrien would say that he didn't want to go if it was just the two of them, maybe Adrien was that stupid.

"Ok, so I'm Adrien," Alya said. She turned around to prepare and get into character. Then, she swung back around, flashed her a flirty smile, and said, in her best Adrien impression (which was terrible), "Hey Mari-"

Marinette burst into laughter instantly. Alya's impression was terrible. Alya grinned. "What?!"

"That was _so bad!"_ Marinette laughed.

Alya laughed too. "What'd you mean, that's what he sounds like! _Hey Mari, baby-"_

"BABY!?" Marinette howled. "When has he ever called anyone _baby_?!"

"Well what does he call you?" Alya asked.

She couldn't hide her grin. It was awesome to hear her laughing like that. especially when she had been so close to being sick just a few minutes ago. Marinette tried to regain control, and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"He doesn't call me anything. the only person with a nickname for me is Chat Noir," Marinette pointed out.

She had run into Chat Noir a few more times as Marinette now. every single time he had called her Princess, or some variation of it. every single time she told Alya about it. it was easier to dish about the cat if she thought they were closer outside of costume. Otherwise Alya might think she had a crush on him. of course, that was insane. I mean, Alya was here, now, pretending to be Adrien so Marinette wouldn't get nervous later.

Alya groaned, "that was like three times maybe! How many people do you think he calls princess if he calls you princess within seconds of meeting you?"

Marinette shrugged. He could have a million princesses, she didn't care. Everyone knew she was his lady. More than usual now, since there was footage (on Alya's blog) of him arguing with the latest akuma for daring to call her their lady, because he was the only one who could call her that. They argued about it later, since it went viral, and agreed anyone could call her their lady, but she didn't belong to any of them. not even him. but, if he felt he needed a private nickname for her, he could call her bugaboo. It was a compromise she hated, but accepted, for the good of Paris.

"Come on, let's do this," Marinette insisted.

Alya cleared her throat again. she put on a half-hearted voice, and Marinette still grinned, but did her best not to laugh.

"Hey," she smiled.

"Hey," she smiled back.

Alya nodded approvingly. Marinette wasn't pink. That was an improvement already. "Thanks for agreeing to come, tonight's gonna be awesome."

"Yeah, awesome," Marinette nodded. She fought the urge to say PAWsome. She'd been spending far too much time with Chat recently.

"ready to go?" Alya asked.

"Sure."

Alya made sound effects of the phone ringing. Marinette pulled a face.

"Oh, sorry, let me get this, it's Alya," She said.

"Less of the face, thanks, that's your best friend calling," Alya pointed out, pretending to be offended.

Marinette giggled, "sorry. Hey Alya, what's up?"

"Oh, nothing much, I've been babysitting, and now Nino is chucking his guts up so I'm on my way over there with my mum's ginger soup to help him feel better. You?" Alya shrugged.

Her eyes twinkled mischievously. Marinette shook her head, laughing again. it was difficult to be serious when her best friend was standing in front of her, checking her nails like she was a bored teenager in a chick flick.

"oh no, is he going to be ok for the gig tonight?" She asked, trying to pin back the giggles.

"the gig tonight? Oh no, no, we won't be able to go to that. you'll have to go alone with Adrien and make him fall madly in love with you by singing along to Jagged Stone at the top of your lungs,"

"Alya," Marinette mumbled, blushed, then went back to acting, "that's a real shame."

"I know, have fun for us."

"I'll try."

Alya cleared her throat again, and put on a husky voice that was even less like Adrien than ever before. "What's happened?"

"It's just going to be you and me, Nino's sick and Alya's going to look after him... unless... unless you wanna call it a night instead," Marinette held her breath in fear.

Alya made a dramatic scene of twirling her finger into the air and lowering it to tap her chin thoughtfully. Marinette grinned, but her stomach was twisted with nerve waiting for her to give an answer. Any answer.

"I guess we should stop by, to make sure he's ok. but then we'll be late to a gig," Adrien-Alya said.

"Adrien is never late for anything," Marinette pointed out.

"Then grab your coat so we're not late for this!"

Alya grabbed Marinette's jacket from the pile in front of them and threw it so it landed on Marinette's head and covered her face. Marinette pulled it off, and laughed. Alya grinned. she took the jacket back, and picked up the shirt that had been knocked onto the floor. When she looked down at it, it made her smile wider. Alya had almost torn this limited-edition Ladybug themed Jagged Stone shirt in half while she fought a tug-of-war with someone for it. they had gone in seconds, and caused riots in the street. Alya got out of there with two. One in her hand, one up the shirt she was wearing. Marinette raced after her, terrified of the akuma that would _definitely_ be caused by this later. But she had her shirt.

"And if he doesn't appreciate the effort that went into this outfit, he's not worth the effort anyway," Alya said, firmly.

"He'll appreciate it. he's worth it. he's perfect," Marinette sighed, dreamily.

Alya rolled her eyes. then her phone rang. Marinette jumped as it snatched her from her daydream. Alya smirked. her friend wasn't half ridiculous sometimes. She glanced at her phone. It was her mother, calling her home for babysitting. Alya stood up.

"I've gotta go. call me tomorrow morning, as soon as you wake up, and tell me, _everything!_ No, actually, text me _while it's happening!"_ Alya beamed, "I was the details."

Marinette laughed and promised to tell her everything as soon as she could. They hugged, and Alya headed back down to the bakery to say goodbye to Marinette's parents before leaving.

"I have a delivery ten minutes away from your house, give me a minute and I'll give you a lift," Tom offered.

"Are you sure?" Alya asked.

"Of course! we have to make sure you get home safe," Tom smiled.

"That'd be awesome, thanks," Alya beamed.

Tom nodded, and wandered into the back to get ready to go. Alya grinned. that would cut down on the time she'd have to spend with her sisters, and it would give her more time with Nino later! She wondered if Marinette knew how awesome her parents were.

Nino gulped down the glass of water dramatically after that incredibly fake coughing fit had sent him into a real one. Adrien watched him though the video chat they had been doing, with an eyebrow raised, and concern for his poor best friend's health.

"If your throat is that bad how are you going to yell tonight?" Adrien asked.

Nino gulped again, and took a sharp breath before turning back to the computer. "Dude, I feel awful. I don't think a concert is the best place for me right now."

Adrien's eyebrow rose higher. "really? I once watched you throw up a bad taco and race across a building, green in the face, because your favourite song came on, but a bad throat means you can't go to a concert?"

"That was different! That was a DJ concert, and I was there to _win._ "

And in Nino's defence, he won. He passed out, but he won.

"So, you're going to let your girlfriend wander around the streets, alone, with me?" Adrien smirked.

"You won't be alone, Alya doesn't go anywhere without Marinette," Nino pointed out.

Adrien shrugged, pointedly, "I'm pretty handsome when I start singing. I could steal her away from you if you don't come…"

Nino suddenly got very serious. Adrien broke hearts with a smile, even if he didn't realise it at times. He was handsome, and funny, and charming, and KIND. That was enough to make him the most crushed on boy in the entire school. If he tried to, he could steal Alya. at least Nino had enough doubt to believe it for a minute or two.

Very seriously, he said, "don't you dare."

Adrien laughed brightly, "Do you think I would? Dude, I promise, I feel nothing but friendship for Alya."

Nino shifted in his chair. It wasn't like he and Alya were dating after all. he didn't have the right to stop her crushing on whoever she wanted. Now he felt uncomfortable.

"and what about Mari? Don't you like her?" Nino asked.

Adrien lit up. "Marinette?"

"Yeah dude, Marinette."

"sure, she's a great friend!"

Nino fought very hard not to roll his eyes. that stupid smile of his when he heard Marinette's name gave away his real feelings, to everyone but him. he really believed he wasn't in love with her. which is part of the reason Nino agreed to bail out of the concert with Alya. He couldn't be asked to deal with Adrien being so blind anymore. When Alya confirmed what everyone already knew (that Marinette was smitten with Adrien) Nino was delighted to help get those idiots together. before that, he was too worried about putting Marinette in an awkward position, and risking Adrien being hurt. He didn't want to be the reason his friends got hurt. Also, it meant that Alya would be spending the night alone with him.

Anything could happen!

"Adrien?!" a voice called off screen.

Adrien turned his head, his face falling. Nino's heart sank. He knew that face. Gabriel was calling him. Not for anything good either. Adrien gave him an apologetic look.

"See you tonight?" he asked.

Nino faked another cough, "probably. Listen, don't let him get you down. You're the best."

Adrien smiled a real smile for Nino, and nodded, "Not the best. That's you."

"ADRIEN!"

"Gotta go!"

The screen went blank as he hung up. Nino heaved a sigh. He really didn't like Gabriel sometimes. All he could hope was that Adrien had a good time tonight. If he realised he was in love with Marinette, that would finally be something to make him smile.


	2. Chapter 2

Alya stood at the bus stop, scowling. She had felt tip doodles on her shirt, frizzy braids tied in her hair, knotting it up wildly, and no fewer than six new bruises. She also had her coat zipped up to her chin, and her hood high over her head to hide the collection of ladybug clips caught in it. It was a mess. Her headphones were pushed far into her ears, even though she wasn't listening to music, because she didn't want to talk to anyone. Icy wind whipped at her legs, making her shiver uncomfortably. The sky was dark with clouds. Alya hoped to be on the bus before the rain started. She had been waiting there, in a bad mood, for about ten minutes by the time her phone buzzed. She frowned, and pulled it from her pocket.

Mari: **Adrien has arrived**

Alya smirked. He was ahead of schedule. Of course, he was. Marinette was right he was never late to anything. Ever. Except school of course. Alya pulled her other hand from her pocket, stretched her fingers out, and hit speed dial to call Marinette.

"Hey, he's not up here yet, he's still downstairs, call in like two minutes."

"Alright girl, I'm on my way to Nino's right now. don't forget to keep me updated."

"I won't, tell Nino I said hi!"

"He wants details too!"

Marinette hung up quickly. Alya wasn't sure if she heard her last comment or not, but it made her laugh anyway. Marinette was hopeless sometimes. The bus arrived before Alya had time to phone Marinette back, and she didn't want strangers listening into her conversation, so she decided to text Marinette instead.

Alya: **Hey, Nino's sick, I'm gonna go look after him, can't go to the concert, sorry. have fun!**

Then she dropped her phone back into her pocket, with a satisfied smirk, and slunk down into the bus seat. Nino awaited.

Somewhere between the bus stop and Nino's house, Alya had decided it wasn't going to rain, and absent-mindedly pulled down her hood. Now her messy birds nest full of tacky plastic hair clips was on full display. Nino opened the front door to let her in, took one look at her hair, and burst into joyful laughter. For a minute Alya was confused. Then she remembered, in horror, what her siblings had done to her hair.

"Shut up!" she hissed, blushing.

Nino tried to control his laughter, but he couldn't. "I – I'm sorry! You just look – oh you look – oh man!"

Nino doubled over at the sight of the tacky ladybugs crawling over the knots in her hair. Alya rolled her eyes. she couldn't pin back the grin growing on her face though. hearing Nino laugh always made her smile, even if it was at her expense. He had a cute laugh, and he scrunched up his eyes, so they gleamed when he was finished.

"are you going to let me or what?" she smirked.

Nino grinned and stepped aside so she could wander in. Alya kicked off her shoes by the front door, walked straight into his living room, and set her bag down by the pull-out sofa. She wandered around his house like she lived there herself. Nino shut the door and followed her. she peeled off her jacket and he took it to hang up on the banister.

"So guess what?" Alya called.

"What?" Nino called back.

"Marinette called me. She and Adrien are going to the concert. alone!" Alya grinned.

Nino threw himself against the door frame, in a dramatic mocking gasp that ended with him slipping on a skateboard and falling on his butt with a bump. Alya howled with laughter as she knelt up on the chair to look at him.

"Are you ok dude?" She laughed.

Nino sat up, rubbing his new bruises, and grinned at her, before pretending to be scandalised again. "A BOY and a GIRL out in the streets of PARIS, ALONE?!" He clutched his fake pearls hand gasped, "horrifying!"

Alya rolled her eyes and laughed harder. Nino always knew how to make her laugh. He pulled himself to his feet, and kept that grin firmly on his face.

"I didn't think he'd go at all. His dad sounded pretty mad earlier," Nino said.

"He always does!" Alya pointed out.

It was true. There wasn't a single time that they had seen Gabriel interact with Adrien without sounding just a little incredibly annoyed with him for some reason or another.

"How long do you think it'll take him to realise he loves her?" Alya asked.

"Well before he left he said they were just friends-"

"Oh! Cold! Doesn't he see Marinette or is he that dumb?"

Alya's scowl of offence at that eased the doubts that Nino had that Adrien could ever steal her. bros before hoes worked for both genders. It probably had a different name for girls, but it worked for them anyway. Alya was never going to date Adrien. She would never feel any non-platonic affection for him. because Marinette got there first, and Marinette's happiness came first too. Nino wanted to pretend that didn't make him as happy as it did, but he couldn't. it made him grin so hard nothing could wipe it off.

"he's not _dumb_ ," Nino countered, "he's just only ever been around models and people paid to be nice to him, whether they like him or not, and Chloe! He's probably just glad she's not only pretending to like him, so she doesn't get fired that he can't imagine any other reason for it. and he never sees her not stammering nervously, because she only does it when he's there, so he doesn't know."

Alya sighed, "I guess she's as much to blame as him."

"Exactly. Do you want a sandwich?" Nino asked.

Alya frowned, and turned to look at him again. "a sandwich?"

Nino nodded. "I brought a baguette from Marinette's bakery this morning. Want some?"

There was a long pause as Alya stared at him. a million insults and cynical comments ran through her mind, and she ignored every one of them because of the way his golden eyes gleamed at her. like treasure. Her treasure. She chuckled, despite herself, and shrugged.

"sure, why not?"

Alya followed Nino into the kitchen. She knew her way around in here to, easily. She grabbed the baguette from the bread bin as he reached for the meats in the fridge.

"Don't forget the chopping board," Nino warned.

"You get it, I'm finding the knives," Alya said.

Nino hummed dubiously. "I don't trust you with a knife."

Alya huffed. "You don't trust me full stop."

"I'd trust you with my life. But you'll hurt yourself if you have a knife."

Alya rolled her eyes. Of course she wasn't going to hurt herself with a knife, she wasn't an idiot! What did Nino think of her? She pulled open his cupboard, and an idea struck her.

"Hey, you have all the ingredients to make pizza," she grinned.

Nino wrinkled his nose. "Do you know how to make pizza?"

"Yeah, it's easy as pie - well, easy as pizza anyway."

Nino laughed a little too hard at her joke, which made her smile, even though it felt a little condescending. Nino wandered over to her side and peered into his cupboard, with hid hands on his hips.

"We could save some money if we make a pizza rather than buying it," he said, "lets do it. But I'm making a sandwich first."

Alya rolled eyes and shook her head. Nino just could not wait for food. That was something she couldn't help feeling affectionate about. Nino eased the knife out of her hand, keeping himself back, so she couldn't accidentally stab him. While he busied himself making a ham and cheese sandwich. He somehow managed to get mayonnaise on his shirt, which Alya laughed at again. Since she was used to dealing with her younger siblings, she automatically dampened a cloth and rubbed the shirt to clean it. Nino's cheeks went pink and he heated up so quickly that steam came from his ears. He didn't stop her though, or mention that his plan was to just go upstairs and change his shirt. He had frozen too quickly for his mind to find the words to tell her that.

"There you are, all clean now," she said, soothingly, as if talking to her sisters.

Nino had gone strawberry. He had very nearly forgotten how to function. Alya gave him a funny look, and decided to wait for him to reboot himself. While she waited, she gathered together all the ingredients they would need to create a pizza base.

"Have you got any pizza sauce?" Alya asked.

There was no reply from Nino. Obviously. He was frozen. She glanced at him, and sighed.

"I guess I'll look for myself."

Alya pulled open the cupboard door again, and searched through for pizza sauce. She found canned tomato and olive oil instead. Alya shrugged. She could make do. She beat together a sauce, scooped some onto a spoon, and held it up to Nino's mouth. Nino took a taste. Suddenly he was kicked out of being frozen.

"That needs herbs," he declared.

Alya gave a satisfied smirk as he hurried to the cupboards and started searching for the spice grinder that his mother kept hidden in the back of it somewhere. She went back to kneading together the base she had started before remembering the sauce. Nino took over the sauce and Alya was just glad he wasn't frozen anymore.

"Here, try it now!" He said.

He held up the spoon for her to taste the sauce. It was bursting with flavour name and she moaned with satisfaction.

"Awesome Nino! It tastes great!" She beamed.

He grinned with pride and grabbed his sandwich to take a satisfied victory bite. They left the sauce to cool and rolled out the base to flatten it out.

"How thick?" Alya asked.

"What do you think?" Nino asked.

"I like a thick base. Its softer to eat the crust, y'know?"

"I like a thin and crispy."

"Wanna go for a finger width?"

"Sounds good."

Alya laid her finger on the side, and allowed Nino to roll the base flat enough to brush against her finger. He was nervous about it. He didn't want to risk hurting her. She smiled at him, to ease his nerve. She trusted him. Even so, Nino was slow about it. Just to make sure he wouldn't hurt her. Until he did.

"Ow!" She hissed.

"I'm sorry!" Nino gasped.

He pulled his hands back, and let go of the rolling pin. It was dragged back and clattered to the floor. Alya yelped and leapt back so it couldn't hit her. Nino gasped again. The colour drained from has face as he stared at her in horror. Alya's heart beat faster. Her eyes were wide as she stared back at him, alarmed. Then, suddenly, she snorted. Relief flooded through Nino as she burst into laughter. Relief that she wasn't hurt and wasn't angry at him for almost letting her get hurt. Alya picked up the spoon that sat in the sauce, and flicked it at Nino. It splattered right across his chest.

"HEY!" His tone was somewhere between a laugh and a whine.

"Now we're even," she grinned back.

Nino picked up the cheese grater and pointed at her, "just you wait until I get the cheese from the fridge!"

"While you do that, I'm gonna dice this ham," Alya chuckled.

They wandered to opposite sides of the narrow kitchen. Alya pulled a second chopping board from underneath the sink, and laid it on the curved edge of the faux marble side. She picked up the knife, and the ham.

Nino covered the pizza with the sauce, then added the cheese. Alya sprinkled the ham on top, then extra chicken chunks she found in his fridge.

"What else can go on top?" Alya asked.

"There's onions in that drawer," Nino suggested.

Alya wrinkled her nose. "I don't like cutting onions."

"I'll do it," Nino shrugged.

"No, you'll do it wrong. My mum's a head chef she taught me how to cut onions properly and if you do it wrong it'll annoy me, so I'll do it," Alya said, firmly.

"Can I watch? I wanna know how to cut them properly," Nino grinned.

Alya shrugged and let him watch. She showed him how to cut it first, so the skin was loose and ready to fall off. Then she showed him how to keep the tip of the knife firmly planted against the chopping board and cut the onion in thin curves to make sure they're clean slices. Nino, fascinated by how she did that, leaned forward a little too close, and he ended up with his eyes stinging hard. Alya's watered anyway. She glances over, bleary eyed at Nino, and chuckled to herself.

"I hate onions," she repeated.

But they laid them on the pizza just the same, and covered it in more cheese. There was a knock at the door. Nino and Alya shared a look.

"You go. I'll put the pizza in the oven," Alya said.

Nino nodded. He grabbed the sandwich from the side on the way out.


	3. Chapter 3

Nino answered the door, chewing on a mouthful of sandwich. He was surprised to see Marinette and Adrien standing on his doorstep. Each one looked flustered, but Adrien was looking particularly anxious. His hair was doing that thing it did where it stuck up at the edges, because he ran his hand through his hair and messed it up. He only did that when he was bored or stressed. It made the girls gush. So did that killer smile he had. Not the one he was giving now. Now it was tinged with hope and desperation. Usually it was cool and collected, and heart breaking.

"Heya Nino, can we borrow your bike?" Adrien asked hopefully.

Nino frowned and swallowed his food. "My bike?"

Marinette gestured to the bike leaning against the wall behind him. It was covered in junk mail and bills that his family didn't want to deal with right now. it had been for a year at last.

"Oh that! I haven't used it for over a year, of course you can have it," Nino shrugged.

"We just want to borrow it," Marinette pointed out.

"That's cool too. You can just leave it here when you're done with it," he gestured to the wall by his doorstep.

Adrien beamed with delight, like Nino had agreed to be his prom date or something ridiculous. He turned to share a grin with Marinette. She crossed her chest above heart with her fingers.

"I promise," she nodded.

Nino just laughed. These two were made for each other. So much so they were both too blind to see it! He set his sandwich down for a moment, and cleaned off the bike. The basket that sat on the front broke off, so he dropped it on the stairs to deal with later. Nino wheeled it out from his hallway for them. Marinette hugged him gratefully, and wheeled it over to Adrien.

Adrien beamed back at him and waved. Nino waved back, wished him a good night, and picked up the sandwich as he shut the door. He wandered back into the kitchen as Alya was pushing the pizza in. She shut the oven door, dusted off her hands, and flipped her knotted, messy hair as she straightened up.

"Who was that?" She asked breezily.

"Adrien and Marinette. They wanted to borrow my bike," Nino explained.

He took a casual bite from his, almost finished, sandwich, as Alya stared at him. The atmosphere turned on a dime. That homely, playful calm was replaced with a tense fear. As if a chill ran through the kitchen and froze her. Whatever it was, it caused a growing tension in her chest, and she bit back a scream.

"What?" She asked, pretending to be calm.

"They wanted my bike for some reason," Nino repeated.

The tension edged into her voice as she hissed, "AND YOU DIDN'T PRETEND TO BE SICK?!"

Nino frowned. "I'm not sick."

Alya stared at him, pointedly waiting for the clogs to whirl in that big brain of his, and catch up with the situation he had just put them in.

"Oh. OH! OH CRAP!"

His eyes bulged as he realised his mistake. The urgency caught up with him. Now they had to hope that Adrien was dumb or distracted enough not to notice. Alya immediately began pacing, frantically grappling in her pocket for her phone.

"It's fine, it's fine, I'll text Marinette - no wait, then she might think I'm checking up on her," Alya groaned.

"You are checking up on her," Nino pointed out.

"Yeah but I don't want her to think she can't get him without my help!"

" _He_ can't!"

" _She_ doesn't know that!"

Alya groaned loudly and dramatically, only when she did it, it wasn't fake. Unless something completely insane happened to distract him, there was no way Adrien wasn't suspicious right now. Marinette was going to have to think fast to come up with a lie, and then tell Alya that lie, and Alya and Nino would have to go along with that lie, no matter how insane it ended up being. Marinette wasn't a good liar. She panicked. She came up with something ridiculous and obviously a lie. Then they would have to go along with the ridiculous lie.

"If she tells him you're actually a zombie right now, I expect you to turn up as a zombie on Monday, so he doesn't get suspicious," Alya warned seriously.

If Marinette told Adrien Nino had died in the night Alya would plan the funeral herself. she made a mental note to buy face paints, just in case they were going with zombies. Nino would make a good zombie, even if she had to make him a real one. They were way too far into this to let Adrien get away now.

"Where are you going?" Nino called as Alya wandered out of the kitchen, phone in hand.

"I'm calling Marinette, I can't stand still right now!" Alya called back.

She couldn't stand still when she was nervous. She used to be able to. Before she met Marinette. Now though, it was as if she had taken some of Marinette's anxiousness away from her, giving her courage in its place. Now Alya couldn't stand still when she was nervous, and Marinette could laugh along with her classmates when she fell over. Alya could take that anxiety if it made her friend more confident. Although right now it wasn't helping her.

"You said you couldn't call Marinette because you might interrupt something," Nino reminded her.

"but if I was she should be texting me!" Alya complained.

"maybe it's still happening, and she's gonna text in a minute," Nino insisted.

"But what if she doesn't?!"

"You don't want to call her, I know you don't!"

Alya groaned loudly, "Ugh Nino! I hate you when you're right!"

She was wearing a hole in Nino's floor as she walked back and forth nervously, tapping on her phone. She was growing impatient for Marinette to text her the lie, just in case she had to learn lines or act or memorize a timeline or something equally ridiculous to protect her friends honour. It was getting frustrating. Nino decided that Alya needed a distraction. She also needed that hair fixed. It was a bird's nest. Seriously it was ridiculous. Nino decided that it was time for it to be sorted out, and if she wasn't going to do this, he was.  
Nino took her hand gently and guided her into the living room. She allowed him to, not really paying attention to what he was doing. Nino picked up a hair brush, and sat her down on the floor. She folded her knees below her. Nino laid the brush on the arm of the sofa and drew her closer. Alya pulled back.

"What are you doing?" She complained.

"I'm fixing your hair, it's ridiculous," Nino said.

"Oh," Alya muttered.

Alya knew he wasn't going to give up if she protested, because he was obviously trying to calm her down. Instead, she leaned back so he could reach her hair easier and made herself more comfortable.

"I'm going to have to take out the... plastic... thingies first," Nino said, uncertainly.

"Don't lose them, they're not mine," Alya muttered again.

"I didn't think they were," Nino chuckled.

Nino carefully untangled the knots in her hair, to loosen the dig the clips had. He had to ease out the rainbow coloured hairbands gently, which made her groan, as he pulled her hair too. He muttered an apology. Softer, he tried to ease out her plaits. Nino ran his hand through Alya's hair, shushing her gently as he untwisted the braids that knotted het hair up. She barely felt it as his fingers expertly eased open the knots.  
Alya growled in frustration and refreshed her phone yet again to see no new notifications. She gripped her phone tighter, and growled again.

"She was supposed to phone by now! Why hasn't she phoned?!" Alya complained.

Nino shrugged. He kept his voice level to ease her, "She's probably just caught up in the concert, it'll be loud in there, it's not easy to phone someone from a concert."

Alya sighed deeply and leaned back against his knees. "You're probably right..."

Now her hair was loose, he eased out the little plastic, multicoloured ladybug clips. Each one bit into him as harshly as they had bit into her hair. For little plastic clips they had some strong jaws.

"Ow!" He hissed.

"What happened?" She asked.

He held up a finger. It was red, but not bleeding. Like it had been caught in something. Something blunt. Something like the jaws of a butterfly clip.

"Do you want me to kiss it better?" She teased.

Immediately Nino turned pink again. She chuckled to herself. He eased her nerves easily. Nino scooped up a handful of her hair, and picked up the brush with the other.

"This might hurt," he warned.

She braced herself. As he brushed down her hair, smoothing it with his other hand, he had to tug the knots a few times to break them free. He clutched the end of her hair, near the roots, to stop it from hurting her when he yanked too hard. Her hair came out when he did. Little strands tore from his hand, as he tried to pull his brush free. She could feel his clutch tighten and loosen as his grip followed. It tore out the knots below, and he smoothed the roots with his hand. Now her hair was eased, he brushed through easily. His brush moved through her thick curls smoothly now. Her chest eased. There was no need to worry about the pain now.  
Alya lifted her phone to check how it was coming along. For a second the screen went black and the room was plunged into darkness. Usually now someone would turn on a light, Alya for example, since she now couldn't see herself in the front facing camera, but neither of them moved. Here, in the low light of her phone screen, felt more intimate than it should. It took away the rest of the tension in her chest, and she could breathe again.

"Is your phone dead?" Nino asked, hopefully.

"No, why, wanna take a selfie?" Alya grinned.

Nino hadn't meant that. He was hoping her phone would die so he wouldn't have to try and steal her attention away from her phone. But he wouldn't miss a chance to be that close to Alya. "Yeah!"

Nino pinned himself against her cheek as she held the phone above her head. He fell onto the floor behind her, accidentally, and she scooted forward so he could fit in. They were stuck so close together his glasses knocked against hers. She grinned. It was hard to keep her eye open when her glasses were knocked into it, but she tried. Nino's eyes were as wide as his grin. Alya took that picture, laughing. The flash of light glinted off their glasses, and made their eyes shine. Their faces filled the screen and their laughing smiles filled their faces.

"That's a keeper," Nino grinned.

Alya laughed. He said that about every single photo that had both of them in it, even if he was hideous in it. Every single time he did, she felt a little more affectionate about it, so she took more pictures. If they ever ended up moving in together, their house would be full of framed photos of the two of them. lord help their friends if they ever had a child. They'd have to have an entirely new account just to hold the photos!

"If you turn the light on, the photo would be better," Nino suggested.

"Yeah," Alya agreed, but didn't move.

Neither of them moved. Nino's legs stretched around her. her knee was cocked up on top of his, bent a little, and she was lounging back against his chest. She was slumped slightly, and her hair was running around her head like a halo, against his chest, so it tickled his chin. Nino's heart beat faster as he wrapped his arms around her stomach.

"One of us should put the TV on," Nino suggested, quietly.

"probably," Alya agreed.

Still neither of them moved. They were comfortable here, on the floor, tangled together. it was warm here. together. they might have been a pile of bones together, but it was so comfortable! Her hair covered his face, so he could smell the perfume in it. it smelt vaguely of rose water. beautiful, just like her. Alya felt him sniffing her hair. Her heart beat faster and she tried not to giggle. The sound was close to her ear, so louder than he thought it was. Nino had lain the little ladybugs on the ground beside them. Alya picked one up, playfully. She clipped it on her finger, hissed in pain, and took it off. Nino chuckled, quietly.

"that hurt," she mumbled.

"Are you ok?" he asked, with amused concern.

She nodded. Her head moved against his ribs as she did. He smiled. He loved having her this close. Alya looked up at him, without moving her head from his chest, and smirked. he turned pink again, but in the cloak of darkness, she couldn't see. Alya reached up, and gently clipped the ladybug into place on his fringe. Nino followed the path of her hand with his eyes, but didn't move. He felt the tacky plastic scratch against his scalp. He winced. Why did children like these things? Then he heard her soft chuckle in the darkness, and felt the way it rumbled against his chest, and his heart stopped.

"Beautiful," she smiled.

He felt her turn and reach up, so her hand cupped his cheek, and drew his face forward. He allowed her to pull his face closer to hers, but his heart was beating like a big brass drum. So fast, he couldn't catch his breath. He could feel her getting closer… he could feel her breath hot on his cheek… he could feel her nose brush against his. His eyes widened.  
He never imagined their first kiss like this.  
Just in his house.  
In the dark.  
Together.  
Alone.

And yet somehow, it seemed so utterly perfect that any and every time he _had_ imagined their first kiss, got wiped from his mind. All of them were replaced with this, single, perfect moment…

"Wait…"

Her voice was soft, but this close to his ear, it was loud as the concert they were missing. Nino's heart was going so fast it seemed to be still. Alya drew back. He felt a scream born in his throat die on his lips. She pulled back, and sniffed.

"what?" he asked, curiously.

"Something's burning," she said slowly.

Nino sniffed the air. something was burning. They gasped at the same time with a shared realisation.

"THE PIZZA!"


	4. Chapter 4

They raced into the kitchen, tripping over each other as they hurried inside. Alya ran right to the oven, and Nino threw the oven mitts across the room, so she wouldn't get hurt. It was an impressive throw and catch to be honest, but the smoke filling the room distracted them too much to appreciate it. Alya pulled open the door and smoke billowed out, choking them immediately. She flicked off the power to the oven and yelled for him to open the back door. He did, obediently, and she threw the charred black pizza out into the concrete. Both of them stumbled out after it, trying to cough the smoke out of their lungs, and gasp for fresh air.

"Are you-" Nino coughed so violently he felt he may as well be really sick, "Are you ok?"

Alya was already choking before he asked. She sank to the ground. The air was cleaner down here. Hot air rises and all that.

"I -" Alya gagged, "I'm fine!"

The smoke cleared, and they could finally see again, clearly now. In front of them, the cheese on top of the pizza was still glowing. Completely lava red around the charred black remains.

"I don't think we can call that pizza, do you?" Alya asked.

"All that effort wasted," Nino sighed.

Alya and Nino stared at the crumbly smoking black husk of a pizza, defeated. They had put so much effort into that - Nino still had dried sauce stains on his shirt - and it had come to this. A tragedy.

"The whole house is going to stink now," Nino said.

Alya cleaned her glasses on the hem of her shirt and glanced back into the kitchen through the window. The smoke was easing now. If they opened enough windows for a while they could air out the smell as well as they could. Although on a cold night like tonight, with fat, slow rain drops splattering on the ground like that, sizzling on the burnt pizza, and the biting wind twisting like that, maybe they'd have to shut the windows before they were properly aired.

"Let's cook some popcorn," she said, suddenly.

Nino wrinkled his nose. "Popcorn to counter the pizza smell? Great."

Alya gave him an unimpressed look. "Don't be sarcastic."

"Why do you want popcorn?" He asked.

"We're going to watch a movie, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Movies need popcorn. I'll order a pizza, you put the popcorn in the oven, and maybe we can save this night somehow."

"I think I know how. But you're right, let's get everything sorted out first."

Alya wandered back inside first, and Nino followed. They worked together to open all the windows downstairs. Now it was freezing in the house, but it smelt less.

"What you up to Nino?" Alya called.

Nino appeared at the kitchen door momentarily, "Stay in here, I want this to be a surprise!"

"What to be a surprise?" Alya asked.

"If I tell you it won't be a surprise!" Nino tutted.

Alya rolled her eyes. She lingered in the kitchen, and decided to tidy up the mess they had made earlier. The saucepan went from the sink to the dish washer, and she piled in the cheese grater and chopping boards and the rolling pin too.  
She could hear Nino scurrying back upstairs like an excited imp. The smile it caused distracted her. She picked up the knife a little too near the blade and sliced her finger open.

"OW!" She cried.

Scarlet blood oozed out and ran down her finger as she curled it carefully, to see how badly it hurt. She hissed with pain. It ached like a bitch. Now the blood was running down her hand like she'd cut her wrist. she bit her lip. Nino was going to freak. She could hear him coming. His footsteps came dashing back to her, ready to defend her. He almost slammed into the door of the kitchen as he slipped on the wooden floor because of his socks. He ignored the throbbing in his arm and yelled, urgently:

"What?! What happened?!"

Alya bowed her head as he looked around urgently for any signs of danger. That's when he noticed the blood dripping onto her sleeve. He immediately fell from aggressive to protective. From a bear to a teddy. It would be adorable if Alya's hand wasn't full of onion juice burning its way across her hand.

Nino reached out gently to take her hand. "Let me see."

Reluctantly, Alya held up her finger. There was a cut along the inside of her right index finger, at the base, going towards her thumb. The blood had moved across her arm, making it look worse than it was. He hissed, empathetically.

"Nothing that won't heal," he promised gently.

Alya stood still as Nino cleaned up her thumb with a damp cloth. She hissed as he hit a patch where onion juice was. When she hissed, he eased up and was softer. When it was clean, it was a small cut really, Just in an incontinent place. Then he covered the wound with a plaster, carefully.

"There. all better," he smirked.

She felt childish until she glanced up to meet his gaze. Kind and sympathetic and full of love. She could have reached up there, tangled her hand in the hair at the back of his head, and yank him into a kiss deep enough to take his breath away.  
But she didn't.  
Her hand would have hurt too much.

"Chat Noir would kiss it better," she said, defiantly.

"Chat Noir isn't some Prince Charming Alya, he's got his faults," Nino insisted.

"And he'd still kiss it better," Alya countered.

Nino smirked. He wasn't really sure why, because he didn't feel threatened by Chat Noir in any way (everyone knew he only had eyes for the bug) but still, something about her persistence made him want to grant her wish. He took her hand, gently, avoiding the cut, and lifted it up to his mouth. Very gently, he bent his head, and kissed the plaster. Alya's cheeks flushed a little. She stared at him. She didn't actually expect him to do it. Nino's ears turned scarlet when he saw her expression. Like a rabbit in headlights. his cheeks burned.  
Their earlier near miss was fresh in his mind. So close to a kiss, and yet, so far. He'd do anything to get back there and do it right this time.  
A knock on the front door cut through the tension like an axe. Alya broke away swiftly, muttering that she'd get it, and hurried down the hall. Nino slipped into the living room to continue with what he had been doing. Alya paid the pizza man from her own pocket, and hurried back into the kitchen.

"Can I come in there yet?" Alya asked.

"Not yet!" Nino called.

Alya groaned. She went back to filling the dish washer with dirty cutlery, being careful to avoid the knife blades this time. The heat from the pizza drew her in. As did the free garlic bread that came with their order. She broke open the box, ready to steal all of the garlic bread before Nino got a chance to eat any. Her breath would be terrible if they kissed later, but that was his problem not hers.

"Ok, I'm ready. Bring the pizza!" He called.

Alya grabbed the box and wandered into the sitting room where Nino was waiting. The only light was the TV, and it lit up the sofa. Nino had pulled the sofa out and turned it into the bed. He had crowded the pull out with cushions, pillows, and blankets.  
The bigger cushions were at the back, boxing in the sofa. Then he added smaller, mismatching cushions to fill the gaps between the big cushions. Those propped up the fluffy pillows they he laid against the back for the two of them to use as pillows. Then he pinned a blanket over the top of them, like a kind of den, and laid another at the end of the bed for them to snuggle under. That was an electric blanket.

"All we have to do is put on our pyjamas, get the popcorn and the drinks, and the remote, and we won't have to move all night," Nino explained.

Alya took it all in. There was literally no light apart from the tv, but there was a lamp on the table nearby, and a plug behind the sofa to charge her phone with. And there was Nino. Everything they might need was right there. Until they drank too much and had to run to the toilet anyway.

"Do you like it?" Nino asked, hopefully.

Alya turned to beam at him. She considered kissing his cheek, but something made her decide otherwise. Probably her breath. It was very garlicky. She didn't want to make their first kiss unforgettable for all the wrong reasons.

"I love it Nino. It's amazing," she smiled.

Nino heaved a sigh of relief but beamed back at her, proudly. Alya smiled at him. He was cute when he wanted to be. She grabbed her bag from where she had left it, and hurried upstairs to change into her pyjamas. Nino shut the windows again, so they were slightly less frozen, before changing into his own pyjamas. He was delighted and not at all surprised to see her spotty Ladybug themed pyjamas. His heart melted a little more to see her tie her hair out of her eyes, and look more comfortable than he had seen her in a long time. He was pleased to know she was comfortable. He watched in awe as she wandered into the kitchen to make popcorn.  
By the time they both sat down, the smell of burnt pizza was all but gone. They nestled under the blanket together, snuggled close, with pizza, popcorn, garlic bread, coke and the remote, well within reach.

"What shall we watch?" Nino asked.

Alya yawned hard, and rubbed her eyes. Exhaustion hit her like a frat train.

"You choose. As long as it's funny, I don't care," she said.

Nino felt her wiggle to lean her head against his chest again. She liked hearing his heart beat so close to hers, but something it made her sleepy. She didn't even argue when he put on a film he knew she wasn't fond of. If he wanted to watch it, she would let him. They were just going to make jokes about it anyway. Although this was the one time that Nino came up with more puns that Alya, because she kept getting distracted by sleep clawing in, and the way his laugh tumbled through his chest, vibrating against his ribs.  
When she couldn't reach the popcorn, he pulled it closer, took a handful, and raised it to her for her to take them. she misread the situation, and ate them from his palm. Again Nino turned pink. Alya didn't notice. She just felt him squeeze her a little harder. Nino never wanted to let her no. Never wanted her to move from his chest. So that's where she fell asleep.  
Too afraid of waking her up, Nino nestled down against her too, and fell asleep with her in his arms, and the TV still on.  
They slept right through the return of the bike. Alya didn't get a chance to watch any of the videos of the concert Adrien and Marinette had attended. She even missed the message from Chloe sent to everyone in their class. Nino slept through it, all the same.

They could have slept through a war as long as they had each other.

Since neither of them wanted to risk burning the entire house down, or at least the kitchen, it was cereal and toast for breakfast. Alya's phone had died. If it hadn't maybe they wouldn't have had time for breakfast. Defiantly not one like this. They were sitting together on the floor between their den and the coffee table, where they had spent the night. Alya was close to giving herself hiccups from laughing so hard at Nino.

"But _how_ did it end up on the _ceiling_?!" Alya threw her head back laughing.

"I told you, I _tripped_!" Nino grinned.

"WHAT, ON THE CEILING?!" Alya howled.

Nino glanced up at the butter stain on the kitchen ceiling. It was just out of view, but it was a great smear across the ceiling paint. He had been surprised when Alya called his name in her sleep. It had caused him to throw his arms in the air, and the knife went flying up to the ceiling, with the butter on the blade. A loud clatter when it hit the ground woke Alya up. Nino was trying to save face. It was worth losing, because now there was butter on the ceiling, but a smile on Alya's face.

"What time is it?" Alya asked.

"Morning," Nino stated.

Alya smirked and shook her head. "What time in the morning?"

"Early," Nino nodded.

She hummed thoughtfully and sipped her hot chocolate. Nino eyed her suspiciously. He recognised that glint in her eye, even though it wasn't magnified by her glasses. He waited for her to talk to him first, so she'd have to share what she was plotting. Alya placed her mug back on the table top.

"Do you think Adrien would look good in glasses?" She asked thoughtfully.

That's not where Nino thought this conversation was going. He frowned, first in confusion, and then in thought.

"I suppose so. He's handsome as hell and trained to make his flaws into strengths. I guess he could bring back geek chic. But his father wouldn't like having to dress him up like that. It might decrease sales," Nino said.

Alya was disappointed with the answer, not because it was inaccurate, but because it was painfully accurate.

"He'd probably have to get laser eye surgery. It's not like his father couldn't afford it," She agreed.

It was a sad truth that Gabriel wanted his son to be perfect, even when it wasn't possible. Before big photo shoots they had seen him hiding the cookies he took from Marinette, because he didn't want to be rude, but he also had to stick to a diet he hated. It annoyed them, but what could they do about it? They couldn't be banned from his house twice, so the next step would have to be even more extreme.

"If he waits a while they'll probably be an akuma with enough lasers to give him that surgery for free," Nino joked.

Alya gave a soft laugh, but it ached a little. Alya may act like she only ever used her time with Adrien to big up Marinette, but she really liked the guy. He was her friend. she didn't like to see him sad. But Nino dealt with Adrien, and Alya dealt with Marinette. Like strange second parents the same age as them. which reminded her…

"She should have phoned by now. her parents start work at four in the morning and she gets up at six to help them. it's almost ten now. she should have phoned."

"maybe she's busy in the bakery," Nino shrugged

"maybe..." Alya muttered.

Alya threw a desperate glance over to where her phone was charging. Nino followed her longing gaze. One day, in some future world, when they were older, and dating properly, and happy together, maybe he'd finally manage to pull her attention away from her phone long enough to have a meal together. probably not. but it's a small price to pay for the depth of her affection. When it comes, that is.

"Go on," Nino smirked, "Go phone her and ask."

Alya beamed gratefully, leapt to her feet, and dashed over to her phone. She snatched it up, threw herself onto the sofa, and beamed excitedly as she dialled Marinette's number on speed dial. Marinette answered almost instantly.

"Morning Alya."

Alya didn't have time for pleasantries. She was eager, no, _longing_ for all the juicy details about her first date with Adrien. Ok it was a FAKE first date, but they had put in so much effort it may as well be real! Plus, she was a journalist. She wanted answers. There was no place for politeness when you're chasing a story!

"So? How did it go?" Alya asked eagerly.

Marinette cleared her throat. She sounded a little nervous. Like she wasn't alone. But she continued the conversation anyway. "Um, yeah, it was awesome! Shame you couldn't come, you'd have enjoyed it!"

Alya frowned. Enjoyed it? yeah, of course she would! It was a JAGGED STONE concert! _Everyone_ would enjoy it, that's why it'll be all over the internet by now. that wasn't what she was asking.

"But what happened?! Come on I want details!" Alya begged.

Alya's voice glistened in the greedy way that it did, and clutched the phone harder, as if she could squeeze it into telling her all of Marinette's gossip. Marinette's voice got tighter, and a little more nervous. She sounded distracted.

"Alya, it's really early. I'm still having breakfast," she said, pointedly.

"What? That's never stopped you before. Who's there, your parents? Tell them I said hi!" Alya grinned.

"Ooh, tell em I do too!" Nino called.

"Tell them Nino says hi too!" Alya echoed.

Marinette's parents were the greatest. The love for them, her father especially, ran deep in most of her classmates, given that they would come in and teach them to bake, or bring delicious treats with him.

"Um... my parents are in the bakery," Marinette muttered.

Alya's voice crumpled with confusion, "Then who are you with?"

Marinette made a sound like she was trying to think of a lie. Alya's mind whirled. She daren't hope that it could be who she thought it was. it couldn't be. that wasn't possible. It couldn't be him… could it?

Marinette muttered, anxiously, "It's a long story..."

"Who?" Alya pressed, urgently.

Marinette gulped. Alya heard it down the phone. She must have been pressed up, right against her phone, like she was trying to hide it from whoever she was with. Alya bit her lip hopefully, and crossed her fingers.

"How's Nino feeling?" Marinette asked.

Alya gasped, her throat strangled with ecstatic delight, but she still managed to shout. "ADRIEN?!"

Nino's head snapped up, eyes wide. Alya leapt to her feet excitedly. The joy filled her so fully she couldn't stay still. She bounced excitedly on the pull out. Nino hurried over urgently, closer to the phone.

"Put it on speaker!" he urged.

Alya put it on loud speaker. She fell to her knees and held the phone out, so they were both crowded around it. the pride that swelled in her chest made her a little smug. This had all been her idea, after all.

"Last night went really well then!" she teased.

"Alya," Marinette whined.

This wasn't good enough. At any moment Marinette could hang up and end the conversation. She would if Alya pressed this. Alya couldn't risk it.

"I'm coming over. Now. Immediately. I want gossip!" Alya declared.

Nino looked up at her, confused and alarmed. They couldn't just go over there and interrupt! No matter how much he was desperate to. But that mad glint in her eyes meant there was no talking her out of this. and anyway, someone was going to have to make sure things didn't get too out of hand!

"Alya!" Marinette squeaked desperately.

"There's no stopping me, I'm getting dressed right now! See you in an hour!" Alya beamed. She hung up, threw her phone down onto the sofa, and jumped around like a kid on a trampoline, shouting delightedly, "NINO! PUT SOME CLOTHES ON! WE'RE GOING OUT!"


	5. Chapter 5

Alya took the stairs too by two with such stride a gazelle would have been jealous. Nino jogged to keep up, panting hard, with an aching stitch in his side. He'd had to chase Alya all the way here from the bus stop down the street. She ran like a fox when she wanted to. Alya darted back now, fire still in her eyes, and grabbed him by the shoulders as they reached the ladder.

"Shh, Shh, listen!" she squeaked in a voice a little above a whisper.

Nino hadn't said anything. the panting made it difficult to. She was the only thing holding him upright at the moment.

"THEY'RE WHISPERING!" Alya gasped.

She shook his collar excitedly. Not to be melodramatic, but it was like everything in the world had suddenly turned to gold, and everyone's dreams were coming true at the same time. Ok, to be a little melodramatic. What can I say? Alya felt everything passionately, and _this_ was her second most passionate mission yet. If Alya could find out Ladybug's identity today, she could die happy in her sleep.

"Let's surprise them," Alya beamed.

She crept up the ladder first, quiet as a mouse. She could hear their hushed voices whispering. Like they were plotting something. She reached out, slowly, carefully, quietly… then she grabbed the handle and threw the trap door open with the loudest possible bang.

"AH HA!" She yelled as she peered up like a meerkat.

To no one.  
The room was empty.  
Well, almost. There was a mess in the corner, under her bed, where the remains of a blanket fort had been torn apart, so they could access the ladder up to her bed. Although it looked like it had been ransacked first. Someone – probably Marinette – had been searching for something she just couldn't find. Alya's face fell. Through the sky light she could see Marinette's legs moving. Alya gasped in delight.  
 _Marinette was still wearing her concert clothes!_

 _"NINO! THEY SPENT THE NIGHT TOGETHER!"_

"So did we, you don't hear them gushing about it," Nino muttered.

"Don't be bitter, this is important!"

Alya made a dash for the bed. Nino heaved himself into the room. He watched her eager dash to the ladder, and groaned. Did this girl never tire out? his chest lifted like he had found a lost treasure when he spotted the sofa. Finally, he could sit down!

"you go, I'll wait here."

He spoke to no one. Alya was already on the balcony with the other two. He was alone.

Alya leapt onto the balcony with a beam wider than she had ever had before. Adrien looked pale and shocked. Marinette had the same look of shock. Beyond just Alya appearing from nowhere, and there was no way that they hadn't heard her coming, but she was too excited to see the huge elephant she had walked in on. Alya's heart glowed, and her hands flew to her cheeks. She was so full of pride and admiration for the two of them, that she lost all the words she had chattered nonstop to Nino on the way here, and just squealed at them.  
Marinette and Adrien shared a look. Marinette turned scarlet.

"A-Alya! what are you d-doing here?" she spluttered.

"Oh you know!" she cooed, beaming. "me and Nino were just _in the neighbourhood-"_

"Two miles away," Nino muttered.

"and we thought we'd pop by for a visit! To talk about what happened!"

"what?! What, what happened? Nothing happened, what do you mean happened?!" Adrien yelped.

Alya missed that clue too. She assumed that he was stammering because he was trying to cover up what he and Marinette had done. she wasn't going to let that happen, but she went along with it.

"You know," she beamed.

"know?! I don't know! I don't know anything; do you know my lady?!"

"ARGH!"

"MY-MY-MY-MY-"

Alya giggled. "Chloe said you were calling her your princess. I guess your lady is a little better. A little."

"C-Chloe?"

"Yeah she sent a video of the concert. You didn't tell me you were dating," that evil excitement escaped from her eyes.

Marinette heaved a sigh of relief. It was a lot less embarrassing now that she knew her secret – her real secret – was still safe. Hidden in Adrien's jacket, Tikki was covering her eyes with second hand embarrassment, as if she could get smaller enough to make this all end faster. Hidden in Marinette's pocket, Plagg rolled his eyes and shook his head. As shameful as he and Tikki felt, given that they'd accidentally just revealed each other's secrets to their charges, they still felt superior to Adrien and Marinette right now. at least they weren't stammering messes. (Although when Adrien said, "I can't believe the love of my life has been beside me the whole time and I never saw!" he almost turned Tikki into one.)

"Come on, Nino's waiting, you have to tell us _everything_!"

Adrien's heart missed a beat. everything?! Everything!? He'd just found out that cute, clumsy, maybe-you-have-a-crush-on-her Marinette was LADYBUG. HIS Ladybug! Last night he'd been worried about falling in love with her, but it turned out he already was! and she was in love with him. and now…

"Everything? That's a bit much. can't we give you the highlights?" Marinette asked, nervously.

"as long as they're detailed," Alya grinned.

"and yeah… that's about it, we just… we just fell asleep," Adrien shrugged.

 _And then we woke up, had breakfast, found our kwamis hiding under a cover sleeping together, because – get this – they're in love too! Too…_ Adrien frowned. He was in love with Ladybug, and always had been. He loved Marinette, and only just accepted that. she loved Adrien… Chat Noir was just a friend though…

Adrien looked hurt and confused and worried. Nino reached out and laid a hand on his knee from across the room. He flashed one of those supportive smiles that made everything better.

"Don't worry, love has a weird way of working things out."

Adrien's frown deepened. When did Nino learn to read minds?

"your Dad'll forgive you if you forgive him. he loves you," Nino continued.

Oh, right, his father had kicked him out of the house and left him with nowhere to stay but here with Marinette. The ladybug of his life. he'd forgotten about that.

Alya's smug little grin hadn't faded in all the time it had taken them to tell the story of what they were up to last night. It only grew every time she caught one of them glance at the other, and quickly look away when their eyes met. Although they were being weird. Not completely-in-love weird, more you-love-me and I-don't-love-you-so -is-this-mean-or-inappropriate weird. Like she'd confessed her love, and he didn't love her back, so now things were awkward. Alya ignored her suspicions until she heard Adrien say something that only Nino was meant to hear.

"Can I stay at yours for a while? I know your parents aren't there, and I thought-"

Nino cut him off by nodded. "As long as you like dude. I'm always there for you."

Alya stared at Marinette, expecting her to insist he stay. She didn't. She bowed her head lower instead. Things were the wrong kind of weird. Alya's smile vanished.

An anger grew in the pit of her stomach. How could he be so blind?! So oblivious?! So cruel?! All she wanted was for her friends to be happy, and she would make _him_ happy if he let her! If he tried to love her! What wasn't to love?!

Alya scowled. She had to know why he didn't love Marinette. She had to fix this.

"Adrien can we talk? Alone? On the balcony?" She asked suddenly.

Adrien gave her a confused look. She looked mad. Nino gulped. Alya's smile had vanished. Nino hadn't been sure that would be possible. Clearly it was. Because now she was angry. Alya stood up and headed to the bed. Adrien tailed her. Nino and Marinette watched them go. When that door shut, Nino felt nerve spill into his belly.

"You ok Nino?" Marinette asked gently.

Nino glanced over at her. It took him a second to realise what she said. When he did he nodded. She smiled.

"Good. What happened to Alya's hand?"

"She cut it."

"How?"

"Knife."

"What?!"

The concern in her voice for Alya mirrored the concern in his stomach for Adrien. If he couldn't make it go away for him, he was going to try and make it go away from her, so he told her what happened. Or what he knew of what happened. He wasn't in the room so he was going from what he could infer. His explanation seemed to calm her so he let his mind wander to other things for a while.

"He'd have contacts."

Marinette frowned. Her mind had been on Chat Noir. Every little joke he made, every time he kissed her knuckles, every time he made her heart beat just that little bit faster... she'd been so blinded by her love of Adrien she hadn't noticed her crush on Chat Noir. Now she felt ridiculous. Nino's strange and sudden statement was a welcome distraction.

"What?"

Nino didn't glance away from the closed skylight separating them from Adrien and Alya. "Adrien. he'd have contacts. Not glasses."

Marinette frowned. "Nino, what are you talking about?"

Nino glanced at her for a moment. "He's got to be a model of perfection for his father. How many people with glasses have perfect eyesight?"

"None," she said.

"Exactly. Alya said that he'd get laser eye surgery but I don't think so. I don't think he would let his dad know his eyes weren't perfect. Then his father might be disappointed in him, and Adrien couldn't handle that. He'd get contacts and pretend he wasn't wearing them."

"But then he couldn't be in glasses club," she smirked.

"No, but we're not going to stop loving him because he chose contacts over glasses. His father might just because he can't see," Nino stated.

Marinette's gaze followed his and both of them stared up at the skylight, silently. Their partner and their best friend. Talking. Privately. It shouldn't make them this nervous.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Marinette asked.

Nino shook his head. "Wherever it is, it'll be bad for one of us."

Adrien shut the skylight behind him when Alya told him to. He couldn't help the nauseous sense of sickness churning in his stomach. She wasn't someone he wanted to upset. He'd seen how she dealt with Chloe. It scared him at times.

"So what's this all -"

"Do you love her?"

Adrien was taken aback. Like I said before, when Alya wanted answers, she wasn't one to beat around the bush. And when it was important to her, more important than anything else, she was incredibly blunt.

"Love who?"

"Love Marinette."

"Love Marinette?"

"She clearly told you she's been in love with you since Ladybug first came to Paris, what did you tell her?"

Adrien just stared at her. His jaw dropped. Of course he hoped that she loved him. Hoped beyond all hopes that she could fall for someone like Chat Noir. Behind the mask he wasn't perfect. He wasn't the flawless gorgeous model that he was everywhere else. Behind the mask he could just be him. That's who he wanted her to love.

Not the face he showed the world.

Not the one she fell for.

Alya's voice was soft but firm. She kept the desperation from it, but only just. All she wanted was for him to tell her he told Marinette he loved her too.

"Adrien. What did you tell her?"

Adrien lowered his head. "She didn't tell me..."

Alya closed her eyes and swore inwardly. Tikki covered her eyes with her hand and shook her head. Adrien knew too much now. Far too fast too.

"Listen, Marinette is awesome. You know that. She loves you. She won't stop loving you. Why don't you love her back?" Alya asked.

Adrien frowned. "Who said I didn't love her?"

Alya lit up. "So you do love her?"

Adrien frowned. He wanted to talk about this with someone but the only people he could talk to were Plagg, Tikki and Marinette. What could he say to Alya?

"It's... complicated... I think it's better if we give each other space for a little while."

Alya frowned. She could have pressed this. She could have treated him like she treated Chloe. But he was her friend. She wanted him to be happy too.

"Tell me the problem... please?" She muttered.

Adrien shook his head and sighed. He couldn't risk her questions becoming too prying and the truth slipping out. Tikki frowned. She didn't want Adrien to feel sad either.

"Pissst!"

Adrien glanced down. Tikki's little pink face was hidden in shadow in his jacket but her midnight blue eyes gleamed.

"Talk to her about Mari. You don't have to mention Ladybug."

"But-"

"It'll help to talk to someone unbias!"

But there was no one around like that so really Alya and Nino were the closest they could get. Nino was far more unbiased, but Alya was here.

Tikki's tiny fists shoved against his chest. "Talk to her! You can do it! It's easy!"

"Adrien, please. Please let me help," she said, gently.

Adrien lifted his head. He could feel Tikki pressed against him, urging him on. Adrien took a deep breath.

"I want her... I want her to love me for me. Not because I'm a model, or rich, or handsome, but because I'm me."

"Adrien she didn't even like you when you first met! It was when you took the time to show her what you were really like that she fell for you. Trust me, I was there," Alya insisted.

"So was I and she's right," Tikki whispered.

"That girl loves you because of how lovely you are to her. Spend more time with her being you, and don't put on the model face you usually do. Let her see the real you. I'm sure she'd fall deeper," Alya promised.

"She will! She likes Chat, she really, _really_ does!" Tikki whispered.

Tikki was right. Talking to Alya eased his doubts enough for him to feel better. It gave Alya time think of a plan. The beginnings of a plan anyway. She was going to need Nino. More importantly she needed somewhere to send the two of them on a date. That's where Nino came in.

Nino stopped Adrien from leaving as Alya and Marinette walked out of his room. They were heading down to the café on the corner for lunch after bringing Adrien down to Nino's house, so he could stay there now. Silently, Nino beckoned him into the living room. Adrien followed, silently. His eye was drawn to the mess of blankets over the sofa. He felt a tug of nostalgia for that morning. The calm of waking up with Marinette in his arms. Everything had felt perfect then. Now...

"What's going on?" Nino asked.

"What'd you mean?" Adrien asked.

"You and Marinette are acting weird. Did she find out you've got a crush on her?"

"No, no - How did you know about that?!"

"About your crush? Everyone knows. You two have been in love since you joined the school and yet neither of you can see the other."

"Nino that's not-"

"I understand dude. You didn't have friends before you met us, so you didn't have a crush before. Or you had a crush on someone else that you could never have, so when you started having feelings for someone you could have, you didn't know what they were. They were new. You mistook it for friendship because you're close. I understand."

Adrien stared at Nino. That made far too much sense. That made sense like someone had sat awake at night trying to figure out why his friend couldn't see his crush was sitting next to him, laughing too hard about a joke about knights. Which, to be fair, Nino had. Only he'd done it with on video chat with Alya, so they kind of worked it out together.

"But it doesn't explain why you're being weird now. what's going on?" Nino asked, seriously.

Again, he felt Tikki close against his chest, her voice low. "It doesn't help to keep things bottled up."

Adrien sighed. it didn't help to keep things bottled up. Tikki was the voice of reason that he needed right now.

"I love her… but she loved the great and perfect Adrien Agreste: model!" Adrien said dramatically, and then sighed so his shoulders sagged. "that's just not me. I don't see what we have in common…"

Tikki pulled a face. if there was one thing they had in common, it was a miraculous! Not that she could point this out right now. she had to wait for Nino to do it for her.

"Nah, you're a geek you," Nino agreed.

Adrien frowned. "Thanks."

"No, seriously, you're a geek. I mean look at how much of a nerd you are! you got into the finals of the video contest with Max. well, until Marinette beat you. And you do fencing like a pro. Proper fencing, like some kind of pirate. Marinette told me you're pretty good. because she wanted to join your fencing school since she loves fencing,"

Nino continued.

"Ooh Nino's good," Tikki cooed.

Adrien bit back a smirk. "Ok I see what you're-"

Nino wasn't finished. "You could even say she was a bit nerdy about it."

"Nino-"

"Really nerdy in fact. I've known that as long as you've known Chloe, and I'm telling you, she's a nerd too. And she's got great grades, like you, and she's late all the time, like you, and she's hopeless at seeing her crush, like you! She's a fashion designer, you're a model. You're right, you two have nothing in common!" Nino folded his arms.

Adrien hung his head and tried not to laugh. "ok… ok I see your point. We have a lot in common."

Nino reached out and laid a hand on Adrien's shoulder. Nino had dubbed himself as Adrien's replacement father, and now he felt like he had to prove it. Seriously as he could, he found the best advice he could. "I don't know what's going on between the two of you, but you're both my best friends. I want to see you both happy. Maybe you need to give each other some space to work it out. to let it sink in a little more. Or maybe you should talk it out. personally I'd go for both. Talk everything out, get it all out of the way, and then take a step back. Let it all sink in. might be easier."

"It's not as simple as that though," Adrien said.

"Why not?" Nino asked.

Adrien didn't know how to explain. He was constantly in the press, always being photographed, always harassed, but Marinette lived in a bakery. She could sneak out and become Ladybug without problem. She could transform and no one would ever see. Adrien always had to check there were no reporters sneaking around, looking for his father, who were about to get the story of their lives when he transformed. He couldn't put that on Marinette.

"Anyone I fall for will be hounded by the press," Adrien said.

"Oh…" Nino had been harassed once by a reporter desperate for an interview about how Adrien was settling into school. It was something he didn't want Marinette to suffer either. It wasn't nice.

"sometimes I think it would be easier if I fell for Chloe. At least she's used to the publicity."

"DON'T. EVER. THINK LIKE THAT." Nino snarled. "You're better than that."

Adrien gave a weak smile. "Thanks for trying Nino."

Nino grinned. "No problem dude. Just set up a little date, somewhere public so it doesn't feel like a date, and tell her why you're afraid."

"A date?"

"Do you want me to arrange it?"

Adrien shook his head. This "date" would have to be perfect, and he had a trick up his sleeve. Well, in his pocket.  
Alya grabbed Nino as they walked out of his house. Her eyes shone with the cunningness that made his stomach queasy.

"I've got a plan."

Nino was afraid of that.


	6. Chapter 6

Nino and Alya knew they were both hiding in the bushes, even if Marinette and Adrien didn't. Because if they knew they were both being coached by their best friends, they'd bring up that time at the zoo... They all remembered how that ended.  
("YOU CAN'T JUST LOCK THEM IN A CAGE!" "BUT-" "NO ALYA THERE IS A LINE AND CROSSES IT!")  
Each of them were wearing ear pieces and microphones on their lapel. Marinette and Adrien kept theirs hidden, but Nino and Alya didn't even hide themselves properly. They were texting each other too so they could gang up on the others.

Nino: **you sure this'll work?**

Alya: **sure**

Nino: **here comes Adrien**

Alya craned her neck to peer over the bushes, trying to catch a glimpse of the model as he strolled towards the picnic table Marinette was waiting at.

"Look alive here he comes," Alya warned Marinette.

Marinette whined under her breath. Between smacking his lips and mouthfuls of cheese, Plagg voiced his own opinion.

"Don't worry, he's been in love with Ladybug since you met. How different can you be?"

"Very," Marinette sighed.

"Maybe that's a good thing," Plagg said. "Ladybug is a stickler for rules. Marinette is more of a disaster area. They're more fun!"

Plagg belched. You'd be surprised how much gas can be held in a kwami. Marinette wrinkled her nose.

"Manners," she scolded.

Plagg blinked in surprise. The only other time anyone had done that to him was the one time his charge was a girl. That was centuries ago now. His response was the same.

"Pardon me."

Marinette smiled at the little kitty kwami hiding in her pocket. He stank of cheese, he was snarky, and he was a little rude, but she liked him. She liked how level headed he was. No matter what the situation was, no matter how panicked she could get, he was always the same. Always apathetic, because he'd done it all a million times before. Marinette loved Tikki, but really she could do with a kwami like Plagg to keep her sane. Lord knows she was good at the destruction side of things.

"She's waiting by that tree over there," Nino pointed out helpfully.

Adrien chose not to point out that he couldn't see him. Instead he just thanked him for being helpful. Tikki frowned.

"You're nervous," she said.

"A little..." Adrien admitted.

"Why? She loves Chat Noir. He was the first doll she made. And can you blame her? Chat Noir is amazing and handsome and funny, as well as smart and kind and loyal. Most importantly, he's honest. Why wouldn't Mari love you?"

Adrien frowned. In that fight they had once, where he let his jealously get the better of him and caused a copycat akuma, Ladybug had called him honest. Even though he lied to Theo and caused the akuma with his lies... Maybe he wasn't as honest as he could be.

"Adrien? What's wrong?" Tikki asked, concerned.

"I'm not honest... I've lied before. I lie a lot. It comes with being a hero... right?" Adrien asked anxiously.

"Are you trying to be honest?"

"Yeah..."

"Trying to be a good person?"

"Of course."

"Then you're fine! As long as you try to be a good person, you can always get better. That's more important than being honest all the time."

Tikki's eyes gleamed with pride as she spoke. Adrien couldn't help smiling back. Tikki had been nothing but supportive and kind all day. She was genuinely concerned about his wellbeing too. Even if she didn't understand, she tried to, and tried to give the best advice she could. Like a red and black Jiminy Cricket. Most importantly Tikki cared about things Plagg didn't. As much as Adrien loved Plagg (and he was his partner and best friend so he loved him a LOT) he couldn't help thinking Tikki would have been a better fit for him. Lord knows he needed the support.

Adrien stopped in front of Marinette. She looked up at him. When their eyes met, they recognised their partners instantly. Marinette tried to imagine herself as Chat Noir for a moment, and Adrien tried to imagine himself as Ladybug. It wasn't like either of them had never dressed as the other before. They had gone as one another for the Halloween party at school. Yet somehow they couldn't imagine swapping properly. Becoming the other.  
No. They knew their roles. They fit them perfectly, even if their kwamis didn't.

"Hi," Marinette forced a smile.

Adrien scratched the back of his neck, nervously. "Um, hi."

Neither of them moved for a minute or two. It was awkward and uncomfortable, and they didn't like it. Fortunately they had puppeteers pushing them on.

"Sit down then," Nino said.

"Um, can I sit?" Adrien asked.

"Yeah, sure," Marinette nodded.

Hesitantly Adrien took a seat beside Marinette. Under the table Marinette held Plagg in her palm. He was holding onto her finger, waiting for the best time to swap back.

"Have you got my err..." Adrien frowned.

How could they talk about miraculous when they had people listening in? Marinette tilted her head and waited for him to talk.

"What, cat got your tongue?" Alya asked sarcastically. Marinette felt her stomach drop. For a moment she thought Alya was teasing her. That she knew... Then Alya added, "Don't just wait for him to talk, you talk. You've got a voice, use it! Open your mouth, something with come out!"

"Um, so, err, I, err, I, um, yeah..." Marinette blushed hard.

Alya faced palmed. She already sounded defeated. "Nothing came out."

Nino: **what do people talk about?**

Alya: **how useless their friends are usually.**

Nino: **what do I tell him to say?**

"So I saw this movie the other day," Marinette echoed Alya obediently.

Adrien frowned at her. What was she doing? They had important things to talk about. Not movies.

"It was about two people trapped together by fate, and they don't get along until one of them stops being stubborn and starts listening to the other. Once they start taking they fall in love," Marinette finished.

Adrien frowned. That all sounded familiar, but it wasn't really something he wanted to talk about. Nino's words were echoed in his head. Talk everything out and then give each other some space… maybe that's what they had to do. but now all he could think about was this movie.

"What movie was this?" he asked.

"Beauty and the - Beauty and the beast?!" Marinette sounded shocked too.

As Adrien gave her a funny look, Alya was chuckling in Marinette's ear. Under her breath she sang to herself. "Just a little change... small to say the least... both a little scared, neither one prepared, beauty and the beast!"

"What is she talking about?" Nino muttered to himself.

Adrien was thinking something very similar. Marinette sighed. She picked up her phone. Adrien winced. This "date" was already so terrible she was avoiding eye contact.

"What are you doing girl? Get off your phone!" Alya hissed.

Nino: **what's going on?**

Alya: **I don't know.**

Adrien opened his mouth to talk when his text alert interrupted him. He glanced down. It was her. She smirked at him, pleased with this new avoidance tactic.

Marinette: **Plagg is under the table. I'm wearing a wire. Alya is listening**

Adrien laughed as he read it. The first real laugh all day.

Adrien **: so is Nino!**

Marinette snorted. Of course. They couldn't do anything alone. It was a little easier knowing they weren't alone, even though it complicated what they couldn't talk about. Alya and Nino shared an odd look.

Alya: **what's that all about?**

Nino: **I don't know but things look like they're going well now**

"Talk to her! Tell her how nice she looks! You're friends remember? Friends talk!" Nino said.

Adrien cleared his throat nervously. He had a strange kind of deja vu. "This reminds me of a date I witnessed once. I was hiding in the bushes advising Nino on how best to get a date."

"Yeah, I was the date. with Nino," Marinette smirked.

"I remember. How things change, right?" Adrien smirked.

The conversation lulled again, and they weren't sure what to say. Even with Alya and Nino coaxing them on, they couldn't think of anything but the bombshell they found yesterday. It made things distracting.

"Have you seen the video?" Marinette asked.

"Chloe's video?" Adrien asked.

She nodded. "Yeah."

"I don't think there's many people that haven't seen it. My father is one I hope," Adrien sighed.

"He still hasn't phoned?" Marinette frowned.

"I expect he assumes I'll call first when I run out of money or clean clothes," he shrugged.

"I can't believe he's not worried about you being akumatized," she complained.

Adrien smirked. "That'd be weird. Me, akumatized."

Marinette grinned. "It's not like you haven't been influenced by akumas before. Like when Dark Cupid took over your mind, and the puppeteer, and Despair Bear, and -"

"Why are you listing all the times Adrien has been mind controlled? How is that a fun topic? Girl we have to work on your game," Alya tutted.

But Adrien was laughing. He didn't remember any of that, but he remembered the news and the interviews that followed that.

"Dark Cupid made Chat Noir attack Ladybug. Do you remember how she saved him?" Adrien grinning, knowingly.

Marinette realised she was trapped, and she couldn't help grinning. "She kissed him."

"But how would that save him?" Adrien purred, leaning forward pointedly.

Marinette leaned back towards him, pointedly. "Because, like Rose says, true loves kiss can cure anything. Ladybug and Chat Noir have a true friendship with enough love to cure anyone."

"Just like Marinette and Adrien, right?" Adrien smirked.

Marinette's smile withered slightly. "I do love you Adrien."

Adrien's smile vanished. "It's not this side of me I want you to love…"

"And you think I wanted you to fall in love with that side of me? I'm not that person, not enough of the time for it to be the real me," she pointed out.

"But it's different for me. You get to be you, and comfortable with that because everyone loves you as Marinette. this me is on billboards and adverts and magazines and on TV. Thousands of girls have a crush on that perfect model, but he's not real... When I'm – him, I'm me."

Adrien lowered his head, and Marinette looked at him as if she were seeing him for the first time. The reason Adrien was perfect was because Chat Noir wasn't. she felt her heart squeeze for them both. He didn't realise she loved Chat Noir too…

Nino: **is it just me or they about to break into song?**

"Kiss him," Alya declared.

"Alya!" Marinette hissed.

"Kiss him! Kiss him now! Show him you're not just another nameless girl with a crush, you're _Marinette_ and you _love_ him!" Alya insisted.

"Tell her about the reporters. She has to be prepared!" Nino urged.

Adrien agreed. "Any girl I end up with, no matter how much I love her, has to be ready to be ambushed."

"Well I think-"

Marinette was ready to joke about being Ladybug meant she was prepared. But Adrien wasn't joking. He cut her off by placing his hand on hers and talking ion a deadly serious tone.

"The paparazzi will be everywhere. At all times. They'll want to interview you, and even linger outside the bakery if they must. How do you think you'll be able to handle that?"

"I can deal with paparazzi."

"Even if they follow you into an alley, and there's an akuma, and you can't escape?"

"Woah dude don't go that deep, you'll scare her!" Nino gasped.

Marinette didn't look afraid. She looked sad. "Does that happen to you?"

Chat Noir was late to a few akumas, sometimes really late, but she always put it down to him flirting or messing around, or saving people she couldn't see on the other side of the city. She never imagined he could be hounded like that. Adrien gave a weak smile.

"Nah. This kitty has claws."

Nino and Alya face palmed but Marinette smiled at the pun. He was full of them. Thinking back he filled her day with bad puns like that. Often like Chat Noir did. Often the same puns! It had taken her a long time to realise how blind she had been.

"The bodyguard helps," Plagg declared.

He had grown bored of waiting for the swap to happen under the table, and had climbed back up into her jacket. Now he was sitting in her pocket leaning on the hem like someone might lean at a bar. Adrien glanced down at her jacket.

"Plagg! You'll get us caught again!" Tikki huffed.

"It wasn't my fault, you didn't wake up, you're always first to wake up!" Plagg argued.

"No good will come of us blaming each other. Let's just try not to be caught out again."

"sorry Tikki."

Adrien and Marinette burst into laughter at the same time. Real, hard laughter. Because they loved their kwamis and yet they felt like their parents sometimes, and now they were bickering like children, and it just felt so... comfortable.  
Alya edged around the edge of the bushes over to where Nino was sitting on a tree stump. He waved. She sat down next to him.

"Is he ignoring you too?" Alya asked.

"Pretty much," Nino nodded.

Alya huffed. "That girl needs more help than anyone and she's ignoring me!"

Nino chuckled to himself. how could anyone ignore Alya? she was bright orange and loud. That was hard to miss, and harder to ignore. Nino put an arm around her and pulled her in.

"I won't ignore you," he promised.

She groaned at him, but chuckled. He was a sap when he wanted to be, but she loved it. she loved him. and she loved her idiot friends, even if they ignored her. Nino gave her his ear piece, so she could hear Marinette and Adrien. This was more important to her. and she wanted the details. but just as things were beginning to look like they'd be ok, fate intervened. Or, more accurately, Hawk Moth did.

"AKUMA!" someone screamed.

Alya sat bolt upright. Her attention, as was everyone else's, was snatched up by the screaming. Alya leapt to her feet and yanked out the headphone to hear Marinette. Nino latched onto her hand. He didn't want her to go running off without him.

"what about Adrien and Marinette?!" Nino insisted.

Alya glanced back at the table where they were waiting. Adrien and Marinette were staring at each other in a weird kind of way that she couldn't put her finger on. In a small voice so quiet that Alya almost missed it, she heard Adrien say something to Marinette. Something that made Marinette's mouth drop open, and her shoulders reel back in surprise. Then, she gave a small, hesitant nod. Adrien gave a small, nervous smile. She took his hand and led him away as quickly as possible.

"What happened? Where are they going?" Nino asked.

"He asked her something, I don't know, here, hold my ear piece, I have to go find that akuma before Ladybug gets there," Alya yanked out the other ear piece and pressed them into Nino's hand.

Nino threw his arms around her desperately. In his ear, he begged, "Be careful!"

She threw her arms back around him, as if this could be the last time they saw each other. She said in his ear, "I will!"

She loved that he didn't try to stop her. if he had, she would have had to disappoint him. there was no way she was going to stay out of an akuma. The blog needed her. Nino let her go, reluctantly, and she started running in the opposite direction to where Marinette and Adrien had gone.

"Wait!" Nino yelled.

She stopped and looked back, "What?!"

"What did he ask her?" Nino asked.

Alya frowned, eager to go, "Oh it was something dumb err... oh - Can I see?"

"Can I see? See what?" Nino asked.

"I don't know, I have to go, go hide with them and don't get hurt and don't die or I'll never forgive you!" she warned.

"Same to you Alya!" he agreed.

Moments later Ladybug and Chat Noir flew overhead, on their way over to the akuma Alya was following. Silently Nino willed them to speed up. not for Paris, but for Alya. he couldn't bear to lose her.

Alya so close to Nino she might as well have been sitting on his lap as she showed him the video that she had taken last night, during the akuma. They had their headphones in, one set as always. It wasn't an unfamiliar sight to see Nino and Alya sharing one set of headphones, pushed up against each other. Sometimes it was music, sometimes it was videos, sometimes it was the news, sometimes it was an announcement, but they always shared it together.

"But what-" Nino began.

"Wait for it!" Alya grinned.

Nino stared down at the phone in his hands again. Alya was practically vibrating with excitement when Chat Noir and Ladybug came into shot. They were standing on a roof, high above Alya. she had to zoom in to get the shot. Ladybug seemed upset. Chat Noir seemed guilty. Then, like usual, he took her hand in his and knelt to kiss it. then he turned to walk away, and she held onto his hand. He glanced back at her. she ran forward, grabbed his head, and pulled him into a deep and passionate kiss. in the background Alya screamed excitedly, and beside him, and was bouncing in the seat as Nino gasped.

"I KNOW! I KNOW! I KNOW! IT'S AMAZING I HAVE PROOF LADYBUG AND CHAT NOIR ARE DATING!" she squealed.

He couldn't bring himself to look away from how Chat Noir's hand lingered on Ladybug's waist, before he pulled her closer. His arms ended up wrapped around her back as hers were wrapped around his neck and they held one another there, closer as possible and passionately in love. Like they never wanted to come apart.

"What are you going to do with it?" Nino asked.

"I don't know. I want to put it on my blog but you heard that interview. They insisted they're not dating," Alya said.

"Who's not dating?" Adrien asked.

He and Marinette wandered over to them, holding hands and grinning. Alya eyed Marinette suspiciously. Adrien found it difficult to look away from Marinette, but he had lip gloss stains across his face. lip gloss that happened to be wiped off of Marinette's lips.

"Alya filmed Chat Noir and Ladybug kissing," Nino explained.

Marinette's eyes widened. "you did? For real?"

"yeah girl! Your little crush on that cat was never going to work, you knew that," Alya teased.

Adrien lit up with delight. "You had a crush on Chat Noir?"

Marinette turned pink and shoved him playfully. Adrien's grin widened. He pulled her closer so she may as well have been sitting in his lap. Alya and Nino shared a look.

"I see you two had the chance to talk," Nino said.

"Yeah. Thanks for the advice Nino," Adrien smiled.

Nino winked at him. "any time dude."

Alya grinned at Marinette. Marinette blushed harder but couldn't stop grinning herself. she had the love of her life by her side, who happened to be the perfect partner, she had a new friend in Plagg, a new thing to tease Tikki about, and her best friends who had forced them to talk it out. Nino glanced at Alya. he wondered if she thought of him like that. he knew she liked him, but did she love him? like he loved her? because he _loved_ her.

"Can I see the video?" Marinette asked.

"Sure. but try not to delete this one," Alya winked.

She handed over her phone. Adrien and Marinette took a headphone each and clicked play. Adrien's eyes filled with affection as they watched, and he glanced up at Marinette repeatedly, instead of paying full attention to the video. When it was over Marinette beamed.

"Awesome," Adrien grinned.

"What are you going to do with it?" Marinette asked curiously.

Alya sighed. "They told everyone they weren't dating. Clearly they don't want people to know. I shouldn't post it until they tell everyone, otherwise it might annoy them. I don't want to make the most powerful people in Paris angry."

"It's well known Ladybug has a temper. Especially when it comes to liars. And Chat Noir had a jealous streak. They could easily be upset with you before they get upset at one another," Nino agreed.

Marinette frowned. She didn't have a temper. She had a terrible jealous streak, just like Chat Noir. And Chat Noir was a huge flirt, so could you blame her for being jealous sometimes? Adrien was too busy biting back the laughter to defend himself. When Marinette was annoyed she looked like an angry marshmallow! It was hard to be afraid of that. without thinking, he leaned in and kissed her cheek. She giggled. Alya and Nino looked shocked.

"The talk went very well then," Alya teased.

Adrien blushed too. "Pretty well."

"And you're not worried about the pap?" Nino asked.

"Well father still hasn't phoned so I don't think the pap will be after me for a while. In fact I may be out of a job," Adrien explained.

He didn't really care. He never much liked modelling, and now he could spend more time with his friend. he was upset that his father was being so stubborn about this though. Marinette leaned up and kissed his cheek. Adrien grinned. she could change his mood so easily.

"This isn't fair. Chat Noir gets a kiss, Adrien gets a kiss, but who kisses Nino?! Who loves Nino?!" Nino complained.

Alya rolled her eyes. she turned around, grabbed his collar, and pulled him forward so she could kiss him like Ladybug kissed Chat Noir. Adrien and Marinette's eyes widened. Nino turned bright pink. When Alya broke away, she flipped her hair, and turned back to Marinette and Adrien.

"So what happened, which of you kissed the other, tell me _everything_!" she beamed, like nothing had happened.

Nino was still just sitting, frozen in the same position, shocked into a statue. Adrien burst into laughter that he couldn't get back under control for a while. Marinette and Alya glanced between the boys, and shared a look, before laughing too. It had been a strange weekend, but it was worth it. all four of them had never been happier.


End file.
